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I’ve been in an odd position of late in receiving a steady stream of emails and text messages from readers berating, exhorting and beseeching me over the Aug. 8 special election, in which Ohio voters are asked to voluntarily restrict their power to change the Ohio constitution.
Some notes are sharply worded, criticizing our newsroom for not doing enough to spread the word. Some are filled with anxiety over the realization that most people in Ohio remain unaware of the pivotal moment in state history and want us to do more to publicize this threat to majority rule.
What’s odd is that no one has done more to publicize Issue 1 than we have:
— We’ve covered every step in its progress toward the ballot.
–We’ve published two editorials sharply criticizing the hypocritical legislators who called a special August election for the issue — less than a year after they abolished August elections because turnout is too low.
–And we’ve had eviscerating conversations about Issue 1 too many times to count on our weekday news podcast discussion, Today in Ohio.
We get it, though. Issue 1 is a critical threat to the future of this state. People who believe in democracy – and the idea that a government’s power emanates from the people – cannot fathom how bad things will get if voters give up their sole remaining check on leaders elected in gerrymandered districts.
So, first, thanks for all the notes. You’ve sent some good ideas. And second, here’s what we’ll do.
We will make all of the stories we publish on this matter free to read for everyone. None of the stories will be limited to subscribers only. Feel free to share them with anyone you think is unaware. You can find them in reverse chronological order at https://tinyurl.com/PDISSUE1
We will publish the absentee ballot application in successive Sunday editions of The Plain Dealer, to make it easy for everyone to vote by mail. Fill it out, mail it in and await your ballot. Thanks to longtime Northeast Ohio public relations executive Bruce Hennes for this idea. We will also publish it online at regular intervals.
As we publish almost daily stories about Issue 1 on cleveland.com, we will hold as much of them as we can for the Sunday editions of The Plain Dealer, which has our widest circulation. That will help the stories reach more people. A tip of the hat to Cleveland City Council member Jenny Spencer for this suggestion. We’ll also print a summary each Sunday of stories that have published online during the week.
We are making Issue 1 the top priority for our Statehouse team lead by editor Rick Rouan and including reporters Laura Hancock, Jeremy Pelzer, Andrew Tobias and Jake Zuckerman. The only story I could see diverting their attention for a few days would be another round of indictments in the HB6 corruption case. (What is taking so long?)
We have myriad Issue 1 ideas we are chasing, based partly on suggestions from readers. After I received repeated complaints that we were doing too little, a sentiment I do not feel is supported by the facts, I did a reality check with subscribers to my free test messages. (I send out a note each morning about stories we have in the works or questions we seek to answer. Subscribe for free at https://joinsubtext.com/chrisquinn.) In one, I asked whether we were doing enough and what more we should do.
The good news is that most said we were covering the issue thoroughly, and many had great suggestions. My favorite is that we examine how Ohio would look today if Issue 1 had passed years ago. That means considering constitutional amendments now on the books that would have failed under the requirements of Issue 1, and what would the ramifications have been.
Why all the fuss on this issue? Because Ohio stands at the abyss. If Issue 1 passes, Ohio voters will lose control of their government. That is not an overstatement.
Issue 1 would increase the percentage of voters needed to pass amendments to the constitution from a simple majority to 60 percent. That would mean 40 percent of Ohioans would dictate policy for 60 percent of Ohioans.
It also would require organizers to collect signatures in all of Ohio’s 88 counties instead of half of them. And it would abolish a 10-DAY period now in the constitution in which organizers can get additional signatures if the petitions they file include invalid ones.
Mike Curtin wrote the definitive piece on why this is a disaster in the making. (Read it here.) He notes how the system in place now has worked for over a century. It is not broken. Nothing has happened to necessitate change.
But there are bigger reasons to reject this. Because the two political parties have figured out how to game the partisan primary system, many voters no longer have true representation in their governments. A Republican in Cuyahoga County has no voice in anything, for example.
And on the state level, Republicans created gerrymandered districts, in violation of the Ohio constitution, to give themselves super majorities in the Statehouse. Those super majorities do not reflect the makeup of Ohio. The result has been madness in legislating. The best recent example is State Sen. Jerry Cirino’s bill to quash free thought at Ohio colleges, under the Orwellian label of defending free speech. If it passes, as is likely, it will harm Ohio’s ability to attract the best students and faculty and, likely, drive Ohio students to attend college out of state.
The only check Ohio voters have on what’s happening in Columbus is the ability to change the constitution. Lawmakers cannot undo that. It is the only way Ohioans can overrule out-of-control legislators who keep getting elected because of gerrymandering.
Changing the state constitution is not easy. It does not happen often. Voters have rejected some efforts. Ultimately, the basic democratic principle of majority rule is what governs.
Ohio’s cynical lawmakers don’t want you to have the power anymore. They don’t want us to be able to overrule their bad decisions. And they have slated this election for August because they know that hardly anyone votes in August elections. That means a tiny, tiny fraction of Ohio’s voters could decide to end majority rule for all of us.
The people behind this will tell you it is about protecting the constitution from external forces. What they mean is you. They want to protect the constitution from the voters. They want to stop you from being able to reject their overreaching. They are trying to make this a partisan issue, but it would harm Republican and Democratic voters alike.
Here’s the question: Why would anyone voluntarily give up their seat at the table? Why would anyone devalue their own voice?
I can’t omit mentioning abortion here. As of now, abortion rights advocates are headed to the November ballot with an initiative to make it legal in Ohio. With majority rule, the initiative is nearly certain to pass. If Issue 1 passes in August, the abortion rights advocates will have a much harder time putting the initiative on the ballot, and they likely would not get 60 percent of the votes. A minority of Ohioans will dictate women’s health issues to the majority.
But this is about so much more than abortion. This is about Ohio becoming a state where unchecked lawmakers would be able to lord their power over the entire state, with voters having no recourse.
That means that Abraham Lincoln’s aptly describe “government of the people, by the people, for the people,” is at risk of perishing from Ohio.
That’s why this is a pivotal moment in state history. It’s why people are writing to us, clamoring for more coverage. It’s why we are taking the steps I’ve articulated here.
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